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107-727: EQANIE’s founding is to be seen against the background of the Bologna Process , aiming at the creation of a European Higher Education Area . The association emanated from the informal network of stakeholders involved in the Euro-Inf Project co-financed by the European Union under the Socrates-Programme from 2006 until 2008. The Euro-Inf consortium comprised the German Accreditation Agency ASIIN , Hamburg UAS ,

214-456: A doctorat (PhD), which took at least three years. The DESS was created in 1975 for students who completed four-year degrees. Intended as a doctorate with a more practical approach than research, it included the production of a 120-page paper which was defended to a jury of three international specialists in the field. The mini-thesis was kept in the libraries of the university issuing the DESS, unlike

321-458: A thesis requirement (including final examination and thesis defence) and can be obtained after four to six years of study. In 2000 many curricula began to be converted into bachelor's degrees ( Bakkalaureat ; the term was replaced by "bachelor's" in most curricula by 2007) and master's ( Magisterstudium ) programmes, with nominal durations of six semesters (three years) and three to four semesters (18 months to two years) respectively. Enrollment in

428-517: A 70-year period by some 216 presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and religious leaders from 45 countries – though it continues to expand, as new speeches are added every few months. Some very early speeches by individuals considered to be "founding figures" of the European institutions, even if they were not heads of state or government at the time, are also included (such as Sir Winston Churchill or Robert Schuman ). Addresses by eight monarchs appear in

535-499: A Ciclo Unico (Single-cycle Master's Degree) is awarded in medicine (Medicina) and dentistry (Odontoiatria). The title for BA and BS undergraduate students is Dottore and for MA, MFA, MSc, MD and MEd graduate students Dottore magistrale (abbreviated Dott. , Dott.ssa or Dr. ). This should not be confused with PhD and post-MA graduates, whose title is Dottore di Ricerca (Research Doctor). The Italian system has two types of postgraduate degree (called "Master", not to be confused with

642-514: A PhD dissertation (distributed by its author to every French university library). Higher education in France is also provided by non-university institutions dedicated to specific subjects. The Diplôme d'ingénieur (engineering diploma) is awarded to students after five years of study in state-recognized Écoles d'ingénieurs , particularly the Grandes Écoles such as Mines , Centrale and ENAC . Although

749-623: A PhD usually takes three years). A five-year degree, Laurea Magistrale a Ciclo Unico (Single-cycle Master's Degree) is awarded in law (Giurisprudenza), in Primary teacher education (Scienze della Formazione Primaria), in Architecture (Architettura), in Pharmacy (Farmacia) and Pharmaceutical Sciences (Chimica e Tecnologia Farmaceutiche), as well as in visual arts ( Accademia di Belle Arti ) and music (Conservatorio di Musica). A six-year degree, Laurea Magistrale

856-515: A compromise with Russia in early 2018, a move that was criticised by some as giving in to alleged Russian pressure by Council members and academic observers, especially if voting sanctions were lifted. In June 2019, an approximately two-thirds majority of the Council voted (on a 118–62 vote, with 10 abstentions) to restore Russia's voting rights in the council. Opponents of lifting the suspension included Ukraine and other post-Soviet countries , such as

963-537: A doctoral programme generally requires a master's degree in a related field. Although the nominal duration of doctoral programmes is two or three years, the time to graduate varies considerably and is generally longer. Armenia ratified the Bologna Process in 2005 and is a member of the European Higher Education Area. Azerbaijan is a full member of the Bologna Process since 2005. Belarus became

1070-675: A full-scale military invasion of Ukraine , the council suspended Russia for violations of the council's statute and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The suspension blocked Russia from participation in the council's ministerial council, the PACE, and the Council of the Baltic Sea States , but still left Russia obligated to follow the ECHR. On 15 March 2022, hours before the vote to expel

1177-457: A master's degree as well. Strikes occurred in 2002 and 2003 and 2007 protesting LMD reform, focusing more on under-funding of French universities since May 1968 than on the Bologna Process. Although the two major student organisations object to some aspects of its application to the French system, they generally welcome the European process. Although Georgia joined the Bologna Process in 2005 at

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1284-509: A maximum of 60 ECTS credits of additional studies before beginning master's-level studies. In conjunction with the Bologna Process, polytechnics have the right to award master's degrees. In France the baccalauréat , awarded at the end of secondary education, allows students to enter university. Before the LMD reform amid the 2000s which implemented the Bologna Process, it was followed by a two-year Diplôme d'études universitaires générales (DEUG) and

1391-455: A member country has violated their fundamental rights and freedoms. The various activities and achievements of the Council of Europe can be found in detail on its official website. The Council of Europe works in the following areas: The institutions of the Council of Europe are: The CoE system also includes a number of semi-autonomous structures known as " Partial Agreements ", some of which are also open to non-member states: Occasionally

1498-667: A member of the European Higher Education Area at a conference in Yerevan , Armenia , in May 2015. In Croatia , implementation of the Bologna Process began during the 2005–2006 academic year. Diploma degree became baccalaureate (bachelor's degree, Croatian : prvostupnik ), and the programmes were shortened from four to about three years. Magisterij (master's degree) is achieved after two additional years of post-graduate study. The doktorat degree (doctorate) may be received after three more years (eight years total). The typical length of study

1605-610: A member withdraws from the Council under Article 7. (The Statute does not define the "serious violation" phrase. Under Article 8 of the Statute, if a member state fails to withdraw upon request, the Committee may terminate its membership, in consultation with the PACE. The Council suspended Greece in 1967, after a military coup d'état , and the Greek junta withdrew from the CoE. Greece was readmitted to

1712-542: A much higher level of integration through the transfer of powers from the national to the EU level. "The Council of Europe and the European Union: different roles, shared values." Council of Europe conventions/treaties are also open for signature to non-member states, thus facilitating equal co-operation with countries outside Europe. The Council of Europe's most famous achievement is the European Convention on Human Rights , which

1819-563: A period of three years. Members of the Executive Board may be re-elected once. After Prof. Dr. Hans-Ulrich Heiß and Prof. Dr. Eduardo Vendrell, Prof. Dr. Liz Bacon is currently the President of EQANIE. Bologna Process The Bologna Process is a series of ministerial meetings and agreements between European countries to ensure comparability in the standards and quality of higher-education qualifications. The process has created

1926-524: A political forum with parliamentarians. Both approaches were finally combined through the creation of a Committee of Ministers (in which governments were represented) and a Consultative Assembly (in which parliaments were represented), the two main bodies mentioned in the Statute of the Council of Europe. This dual intergovernmental and inter-parliamentary structure was later copied for the European Communities , NATO and OSCE . The Council of Europe

2033-525: A population of approximately 675 million as of 2023 ; it operates with an annual budget of approximately 500 million euros . The organisation is distinct from the European Union (EU), although people sometimes confuse the two organisations – partly because the EU has adopted the original European flag , designed for the Council of Europe in 1955, as well as the European anthem . No country has ever joined

2140-508: A status that allows them to participate in CoE activities without being full members. There are three types of nonmember status: associate member , special guest and observer . Associate member status was created for former Axis states which had not yet regained their sovereignty since their defeat in the Second World War; as such, it is no longer used, although there have been proposals to reactivate it to permit enhanced participation by

2247-461: A third-year Licence (the equivalent of a UK bachelor's degree). Students could then pursue a Maîtrise, a one-year research degree which could be followed by a one-year vocational degree (the Diplôme d'études supérieures spécialisées or DESS) or research degree (the Diplôme d'études approfondies , or DEA ). The DEA, preparation for a doctorate, was equivalent to the M. Phil . Students could then pursue

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2354-577: A two-year master's degree ( maisteri ). In these fields, the Bologna Process resulted in no change. In engineering, universities only offered a 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 -year master's program ( diplomi-insinööri ). This has been replaced by a three-year bachelor's degree ( tekniikan kandidaatti ) and a two-year master's degree ( diplomi-insinööri ), for which the English names are Bachelor of Science (Technology) and Master of Science (Technology). A corresponding change has been made in military higher education, where

2461-548: Is composed of members of the national parliaments of each member state. The Commissioner for Human Rights is an institution within the Council of Europe, mandated to promote awareness of and respect for human rights within the member states. The secretary general presides over the secretariat of the organisation. Other major CoE bodies include the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM) and

2568-673: Is open to all European states who seek harmony, cooperation, good governance and human rights, accepting the principle of the rule of law and are able and willing to guarantee democracy, fundamental human rights and freedoms. Whereas the member states of the European Union transfer part of their national legislative and executive powers to the European Commission and the European Parliament , Council of Europe member states maintain their sovereignty but commit themselves through conventions/treaties ( international law ) and co-operate on

2675-421: Is three years for a bachelor's degree ( baccalaureus ), two years for a master's degree ( magistar ) and three years for a doctor of science ( doktor znanosti ). A local distinction is made between vocational and academic degrees at the baccalaureate level, and between engineering and other programs at levels below the doctoral. There are several exceptions. The first degree in economics still takes four years, and

2782-515: The Baltic states , who argued that readmission amounted to normalizing Russia's malign activity. Supporters of restoring Russia's council rights included France and Germany, which argued that a Russian withdrawal from the council would be harmful because it would deprive Russian citizens of their ability to initiate cases in the European Court of Human Rights . On 3 March 2022, after Russia launched

2889-566: The Eastern Bloc . Others again saw it as a nascent "United States of Europe", the resonant phrase that Churchill had reached for at Zurich in 1946. The future structure of the Council of Europe was discussed at the Congress of Europe , which brought together several hundred leading politicians, government representatives and members of civil society in The Hague , Netherlands , in 1948. Responding to

2996-573: The European Audiovisual Observatory . The headquarters of the Council of Europe, as well as its Court of Human Rights, are situated in Strasbourg , France . The Council uses English and French as its two official languages . The Committee of Ministers, the PACE, and the Congress of the Council of Europe also use German and Italian for some of their work. In a speech in 1929, French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand floated

3103-936: The European Higher Education Area under the Lisbon Recognition Convention . It is named after the University of Bologna , where the Bologna declaration was signed by education ministers from 29 European countries in 1999. The process was opened to other countries in the European Cultural Convention of the Council of Europe , and government meetings have been held in Prague (2001), Berlin (2003), Bergen (2005), London (2007), Leuven (2009), Budapest - Vienna (2010), Bucharest (2012), Yerevan (2015), Paris (2018), and Rome (2020). Before

3210-661: The European Treaty Series . Several conventions have also been opened for signature to non-member states. Important examples are the Convention on Cybercrime (signed for example, by Canada, Japan, South Africa and the United States), the Lisbon Recognition Convention on the recognition of study periods and degrees (signed for example, by Australia, Belarus, Canada, the Holy See , Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, New Zealand and

3317-423: The European Union , which is separate from the Council of Europe, although they have shared the same European flag and anthem since the 1980s since they both work for European integration . Nor is the Council of Europe to be confused with the European Union itself. The Council of Europe is an entirely separate body from the European Union. It is not controlled by it. Cooperation between the European Union and

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3424-644: The General Assembly of the United Nations approved a resolution on granting observer status to the Council of Europe which was proposed by several member states of the CoE. Currently, the Council of Europe holds observer status with the United Nations and is regularly represented in the UN General Assembly . It has organised the regional UN conferences against racism and on women. It co-operates with

3531-672: The Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO), the European Pharmacopoeia Commission and the North-South Centre . Invitations to sign and ratify relevant conventions of the Council of Europe on a case-by-case basis are sent to three groups of non-member entities: The Council of Europe is not to be confused with the Council of the European Union (the "Council of Ministers") or the European Council . These belong to

3638-662: The Holy See , Japan , Mexico , and the United States are observer states, while Israel is an observer to the PACE. Additionally Kosovo is a member of the Council of Europe Development Bank and a member of the Council of Europe's Venice Commission . The Assembly of Kosovo was invited to take part in the work of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and its committees as an observer in 2016. Two representatives of local government in Kosovo participate in

3745-653: The Licentiate (higher than a master's degree, but less extensive than Doctor of Medicine or Dentistry degrees) is the basic degree. A six-year program of at least 360 ECTS credits leads to the Licentiate of Medicine ( lääketieteen lisensiaatti ) degree. There is an intermediate title (but not an academic degree) of lääketieteen kandidaatti , and no master's degree. Polytechnic degrees are considered bachelor's degrees in international use. In domestic use, bachelors transferring from polytechnics to universities may be required to amass

3852-927: The North-South Centre of the Council of Europe is established in Lisbon , Portugal , and the Centre for Modern Languages is in Graz , Austria . There are European Youth Centres in Budapest , Hungary , and in Strasbourg. The European Wergeland Centre, a new Resource Centre on education for intercultural dialogue, human rights and democratic citizenship, operated in cooperation with the Norwegian Government, opened in Oslo , Norway , in February 2009. The Council of Europe has external offices all over

3959-623: The Quartier européen , an area in the northeast of Strasbourg spread over the three districts of Le Wacken, La Robertsau and Quartier de l'Orangerie, where are also located the four buildings of the seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg , the Arte headquarters and the seat of the International Institute of Human Rights . Building in the area started in 1949 with the predecessor of

4066-793: The Spanish transition to democracy . Next to join were Liechtenstein (1978), San Marino (1988) and Finland (1989). After the fall of Communism with the Revolutions of 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union , the following countries in Europe joined: Hungary (1990), Poland (1991), Bulgaria (1992), Estonia (1993), Lithuania (1993), Slovenia (1993), the Czech Republic (1993), Slovakia (1993), Romania (1993), Andorra (1994), Latvia (1995), Moldova (1995), Albania (1995), Ukraine (1995),

4173-404: The University of Paderborn and the Council of European Professional Informatics Societies ( CEPIS ). The project consortium established and tested the so-called Euro-Inf Framework Standards and Accreditation Criteria for Informatics Programmes in Europe. The rights of ownership and copyright on the assessment tools developed by the Euro-Inf Project are held by EQANIE. Main objectives of EQANIE in

4280-542: The baccalauréat and doctorat are unchanged in the Bologna system (known in France as LMD reform), the DEUG and licence have been merged into a three-year Licence. The Maîtrise, DESS and DEA have been combined into a two-year master's degree, which can be work- ( master professionnel ) or research-oriented ( master recherche ). The Diplôme d'ingénieur degree is still separate from a university degree, but holders may legally claim

4387-600: The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (1995) (later renamed North Macedonia ), Russia (1996, expelled 2022), Croatia (1996), Georgia (1999), Armenia (2001), Azerbaijan (2001), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2002), Serbia and Montenegro (later Serbia ) (2003) and Monaco (2004). The council now has 46 member states, with Montenegro (2007) being the latest to join. Although most Council members are predominantly Christian in heritage, there are four Muslim-majority member states: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Albania, and Azerbaijan. The CoE has granted some countries

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4494-674: The Agora Building are in the Robertsau district. The Agora building has been voted "best international business centre real estate project of 2007" on 13 March 2008, at the MIPIM 2008. The European Youth Centre is located in the Wacken district. Besides its headquarters in Strasbourg, the Council of Europe is also present in other cities and countries. The Council of Europe Development Bank has its seat in Paris,

4601-453: The Bergen summit, steps towards the establishment of the European Higher Education Area were completed earlier. Since the end of the 1990s, many Georgian universities (mostly private) have introduced limited educational programs allowing students to graduate with a bachelor's degree (four years) and earn a master's degree (one to two years) while preserving the old five-to-six-year scheme. During

4708-556: The Bologna Agreement. The degree workload is counted in European credits, with a European equivalent of 180 credits (three years) for bachelor's degrees and 120 credits (two years) for master's degrees. Austria 's situation is similar to Germany's, with the lowest undergraduate degrees the Magister (FH) and Diplom (FH) (designed to take three or four years). The lowest graduate degrees are Magister and Diplom , which typically fulfill

4815-822: The Caucasus, as well as some countries in the Southern Mediterranean region. The schools are part of the Education Department, which is part of the Directorate of Democratic Participation within the Directorate General of Democracy ("DGII") of the Council of Europe. Cooperation between the CoE and the UN started with the agreement signed by the Secretariats of these institutions on 15 December 1951. On 17 October 1989,

4922-521: The CoE should be "in principle open only to states whose national territory lies wholly or partly in Europe"; later, however, the Assembly extended eligibility to apply and be admitted to Armenia , Azerbaijan , and Georgia . The Council of Europe was founded on 5 May 1949 by Belgium , Denmark , France , Ireland , Italy , Luxembourg , Netherlands , Norway , Sweden and the United Kingdom . Greece and Turkey joined three months later. Iceland , West Germany and Saar Protectorate joined

5029-414: The Council placing the institution under financial strain. Russia stated that its suspension by the council was unfair, and demanded the restoration of its voting rights. Russia had threatened to withdraw from the Council unless its voting rights were restored in time for the election of a new secretary general. European Council secretary-general Thorbjørn Jagland organized a special committee to find

5136-501: The Council instead under its exclusion mechanism rather than the withdrawal mechanism. After being excluded from the Council of Europe, Russia's former president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev endorsed restoring the death penalty in Russia . The Council of Europe works mainly through international treaties, usually called conventions in its system. By drafting conventions or international treaties, common legal standards are set for its member states. The conventions are collected in

5243-420: The Council of Europe Statute specifies that membership is open to any "European" State) and political (Article 3 of the Statute states applying for membership must accept democratic values—"Every member of the Council of Europe must accept the principles of the rule of law and the enjoyment by all persons within its jurisdiction of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and collaborate sincerely and effectively in

5350-414: The Council of Europe as associate members in 1950. West Germany became a full member in 1951, and the Saar withdrew its application after it joined West Germany following the 1955 Saar Statute referendum . Joining later were Austria (1956), Cyprus (1961), Switzerland (1963), Malta (1965), and Portugal (1976). Spain joined in 1977, two years after the death of its dictator Francisco Franco and

5457-437: The Council of Europe organizes summits of the heads of state and government of its member states. Four summits have been held to date with the fourth concluding on 17 May 2023. The seat of the Council of Europe is in Strasbourg , France. First meetings were held in Strasbourg's University Palace in 1949, but the Council of Europe soon moved into its own buildings. The Council of Europe's eight main buildings are situated in

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5564-440: The Council of Europe today. Iceland had already joined in 1950, followed in 1956 by Austria, Cyprus in 1961, Switzerland in 1963 and Malta in 1965. In 2018, an archive of all speeches made to the PACE by heads of state or government since the Council of Europe's creation in 1949 appeared online, the fruit of a two-year project entitled "Voices of Europe". At the time of its launch, the archive comprised 263 speeches delivered over

5671-400: The Council of Europe was reinforced in the mid-2000s, notably on culture and education as well as on the international enforcement of justice and Human Rights. The European Union is expected to accede to the European Convention on Human Rights (the convention). There are also concerns about consistency in case law – the European Court of Justice (the EU's court in Luxembourg ) is treating

5778-407: The Council of Europe, although it has observer status. Although Israel is not geographically part of Europe, it is part of the UNESCO European Region (although not a UNESCO member). Israel has also ratified the Lisbon Recognition Convention but, under the criteria of the 2003 Berlin Communiqué , it is ineligible for the Bologna Process. Kosovo is not a party to the European Cultural Convention of

5885-441: The Council of Europe. Although Serbia is a party, Kosovo declared independence from it and has theoretically been a part of the Bologna Process since the Kosovo War . It was suggested that Kosovo could be associated with the process in a category appropriate to its situation, such as guest or special-observer status. Kyrgyzstan is not a party to the European Cultural Convention of the Council of Europe, although has also ratified

5992-413: The EU without first belonging to the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe is an official United Nations observer . Unlike the EU, the Council of Europe cannot make binding laws; however, the council has produced a number of international treaties, including the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights, ECHR) of 1953. Provisions from

6099-405: The Euro-Inf Bachelor / Euro-Inf Master Label. An Institution wishing to have one or more of its degrees accredited has to select between two different paths: The General Assembly is the highest decision-making body of EQANIE. It is composed of one delegate per EQANIE member-organization. The General Assembly meets at least once a year. The Executive Board is appointed by the General Assembly for

6206-558: The European continent and beyond. There are four 'Programme Offices', namely in Ankara, Podgorica, Skopje, and Venice. There are also 'Council of Europe Offices' in Baku, Belgrade, Chisinau, Kyiv, Paris, Pristina, Sarajevo, Tbilisi, Tirana, and Yerevan . Bucharest has a Council of Europe Office on Cybercrime. There are also Council of Europe Offices in non-European capital cities like Rabat and Tunis. Additionally, there are 4 "Council of Europe Liaison Offices", this includes: There are two main criteria for membership: geographic (Article 4 of

6313-540: The Lisbon Recognition Convention. Northern Cyprus is not a party to the European Cultural Convention of the Council of Europe and not recognized as an independent political entity by any member of the Bologna Process except Turkey. The basic framework is three cycles of higher-education qualifications . The framework adopted by the ministers at their meeting in Bergen in 2005 defines the qualifications in terms of learning outcomes, which are statements of what students know and can do on completing their degrees. In describing

6420-719: The National Tertiary Education Information Centre, 65 percent of respondents thought it unnecessary to adopt the system. The new system provides less of a guarantee that students will obtain a master's degree, because many will complete their education after the three-year bachelor's degree. Students are expected to study more unrelated subjects during the first three years, due to the smaller number of majors. In Iceland , bachelor's degrees are usually three years in duration; master's degrees are two years, and doctoral degrees range from three to six years. In Ireland , bachelor's degrees are commonly three to four years in duration; master's and doctoral degrees are basically similar to those in

6527-409: The Palais de l'Europe, the House of Europe (demolished in 1977), and came to a provisional end in 2007 with the opening of the New General Office Building, later named "Agora", in 2008. The Palais de l'Europe ( Palace of Europe ) and the Art Nouveau Villa Schutzenberger (seat of the European Audiovisual Observatory ) are in the Orangerie district, and the European Court of Human Rights , the EDQM and

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6634-452: The Soviet era, the only degree was the discontinued Specialist. Cycles of higher education are divided into first (bachelor's degree with 240 credits ), second (master's degree, 120 credits) and third (doctorate, 180 credits). Human and veterinary medicine and dentistry (300–360 credits) are integrated programs with a qualification equal to a master's degree. Greece joined the Bologna Process in 1999. Since 2007, more-intensive steps towards

6741-419: The UK. Bachelor's degrees are first-cycle qualifications. Except for the MA at the Trinity College Dublin , a master's degree is always a postgraduate degree (teaching or research). The generic outcomes for Irish degrees are laid out in the 2003 National Framework of Qualifications. In 2006, Ireland was the first country to verify the compatibility of its national framework with that of the EHEA. Italy fits

6848-437: The United Nations at many levels, in particular in the areas of human rights, minorities, migration and counter-terrorism. In November 2016, the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus Resolution (A/Res/71/17) on Cooperation between the United Nations and the Council of Europe whereby it acknowledged the contribution of the Council of Europe to the protection and strengthening of human rights and fundamental freedoms, democracy and

6955-400: The United States), the Anti- doping Convention (signed, for example, by Australia, Belarus, Canada and Tunisia) and the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (signed for example, by Burkina Faso, Morocco, Tunisia and Senegal as well as the European Community ). Non-member states also participate in several partial agreements, such as the Venice Commission ,

7062-411: The Universal Declaration was essentially aspirational, the European Convention from the beginning featured an enforcement mechanism – an international Court – which was to adjudicate on alleged violations of its articles and to hold governments to account, a dramatic leap forward for international justice. Today, this is the European Court of Human Rights , whose rulings are binding on 46 European nations,

7169-406: The additional two years required for a master's degree. Mid-length (two-to four-year) professional degrees have been adapted as professional bachelor's degrees ( 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 years). In the Finnish pre-Bologna system, higher education was divided between universities and polytechnics . In universities, degrees were divided in most fields into a three-year bachelor's degree ( kandidaatti ) and

7276-410: The architecture of the European Higher Education system". The Bologna Process has 49 participating countries. Signatories of the Bologna Accord, members of the European Higher Education Area , are: All member states of the EU are participating in the process, with the European Commission also a signatory. Monaco and San Marino are the only members of the Council of Europe which did not adopt

7383-401: The area of accreditation and quality assessment are: The key principle of Euro-Inf accreditation is that all graduates of a Euro-Inf accredited degree should have undertaken a defined set of learning activities and should have achieved a broadly defined set of learning outcomes. The Framework represents a quality threshold; those degree programmes that have demonstrated compliance are awarded

7490-412: The basis of common values and common political decisions. Those conventions and decisions are developed by the member states working together at the Council of Europe. Both organisations function as concentric circles around the common foundations for European cooperation and harmony, with the Council of Europe being the geographically wider circle. The European Union could be seen as the smaller circle with

7597-436: The conclusions of the Congress of Europe, the Consultative Council of the Treaty of Brussels convened a Committee for the Study of European Unity, which met eight times from November 1948 to January 1949 to draw up the blueprint of a new broad-based European organisation. There were two competing schools of thought: some favoured a classical international organisation with representatives of governments, while others preferred

7704-545: The continent, many of them members of the European Movement , who were quietly working towards the creation of the council. Some regarded it as a guarantee that the horrors of war – or the human rights violations of the Nazi regime – could never again be visited on the continent, others came to see it as a "club of democracies", built around a set of common values that could stand as a bulwark against totalitarian states belonging to

7811-472: The convention are incorporated in domestic law in many participating countries. The best-known body of the Council of Europe is the European Court of Human Rights , which rules on alleged violations of the ECHR. The council's two statutory bodies are the Committee of Ministers , which comprises the foreign ministers of each member state, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which

7918-731: The convention as part of the legal system of all EU member states in order to prevent conflict between its judgements and those of the European Court of Human Rights (the court in Strasbourg interpreting the convention). Protocol No. 14 of the convention is designed to allow the EU to accede to it and the EU Treaty of Lisbon contains a protocol binding the EU to join. The EU would thus be subject to its human rights law and external monitoring as its member states currently are. The Council of Europe Schools of Political Studies were established to train future generations of political, economic, social and cultural leaders in countries in transition. With

8025-463: The council in 1974. Russia became a member of the Council of Europe in 1996. In 2014, after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and supported separatists in eastern Ukraine , the Council stripped Russia of its voting rights in the PACE. In response, Russia began to boycott the Assembly in 2016, and beginning from 2017 ceased paying its annual membership dues of 32.6 million euros (US$ 37.1 million) to

8132-431: The council's Consultative Assembly, parliamentarians drawn from the twelve member nations, met in Strasbourg for its first plenary session, held over 18 sittings and lasting nearly a month. They debated how to reconcile and reconstruct a continent still reeling from war, yet already facing a new East–West divide, launched the radical concept of a trans-national court to protect the basic human rights of every citizen, and took

8239-403: The country, Russia initiated a voluntary withdrawal procedure from the council. The Russian delegation planned to deliver its formal withdrawal on 31 December 2022, and announced its intent to denounce the ECHR. However, on the same day, the council's Committee of Ministers decided Russia's membership in the council would be terminated immediately, and determined that Russia had been excluded from

8346-493: The current observer states. "Special guest" status was used as a transitional status for post-Soviet countries that wished to join the council after the fall of the Berlin Wall and is no longer commonly used. "Observer" status is for non-European nations who accept democracy, rule of law, and human rights, and wish to participate in Council initiatives. The United States became an observer state in 1995. Currently, Canada ,

8453-646: The cycles, the framework uses the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS): In most cases, it would take three to four years to earn a bachelor's degree and another one or two years for a master's degree . Doctoral degrees usually require another two to four years of specialization, primarily individual research under a mentor. Degree names may vary by country. One academic year normally corresponds to 60 ECTS credits, equivalent to 1,500–1,800 hours of study. The process, an intergovernmental agreement between EU and non-EU countries, does not have

8560-488: The end of the war", and think about how to rebuild and maintain peace on a shattered continent. Given that Europe had been at the origin of two world wars, the creation of such a body would be, he suggested, "a stupendous business". He returned to the idea during a well-known speech at the University of Zurich on 19 September 1946, throwing the full weight of his considerable post-war prestige behind it. Additionally, there were also many other statesmen and politicians across

8667-451: The establishment of the European Higher Education Area were completed. In Hungary , the Bologna system applies to those who began their university education in or after September 2006. One hundred and eight majors were available for selection (compared with over 400 in 2005), of which six are exempt from the bachelor's-master's division: law, human and veterinary medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and architecture. According to an online poll by

8774-506: The first steps in a process that would eventually lead to the creation of an offshoot organisation, the European Union . In August 1949, Paul-Henri Spaak resigned as Belgium's foreign minister in order to be elected as the first president of the assembly. Behind the scenes, he too had been quietly working towards the creation of the council, and played a key role in steering its early work. However, in December 1951, after nearly three years in

8881-503: The former and a master's and doctorate in the latter). In mainland Europe, five-year-plus first degrees are common. Many do not complete their studies, and many countries are introducing bachelor-level qualifications. The situation is evolving as the Bologna Process is implemented. Some countries introduced the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) and discussed their degree structures, qualifications, financing and management of higher education and mobility programmes. At

8988-687: The framework since its 1999 adoption of the 3+2 system. The first degree is the Laurea triennale , which may be obtained after three years of study. Selected students may then complete their studies with two additional years of specialization leading to the Laurea Magistrale . The Laurea corresponds to a bachelor's degree; the Laurea Magistrale, corresponding to a master's degree, grants access to third-cycle programmes (post-MA degrees, doctorates or specialized schools) lasting two to five years (completing

9095-519: The general requirements established at national level, but it is offered under the autonomous responsibility of each university". Council of Europe The Council of Europe ( CoE ; French : Conseil de l'Europe , CdE ) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights , democracy and the rule of law in Europe . Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, representing 46 member states, with

9202-410: The idea of an organisation which would gather European nations together in a "federal union" to resolve common problems. The United Kingdom's wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill first publicly suggested the creation of a "Council of Europe" in a BBC radio broadcast on 21 March 1943, while the Second World War was still raging. In his own words, he tried to "peer through the mists of the future to

9309-428: The institutional level, the reform involved higher-education institutions, their faculties or departments, student and staff representatives and other factors. Priorities varied by country and institution. In Andorra, degrees are awarded by the state in all three cycles (bachelor's, master's and doctoral). The University of Andorra has adapted its classroom studies to the European Higher Education Area in accordance with

9416-428: The legal basis for the existence and work of NGOs in Europe. Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects the right to freedom of association, which is also a fundamental norm for NGOs. The rules for consultative status for INGOs appended to the resolution (93)38 "On relation between the Council of Europe and non-governmental organisations ", adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 18 October 1993 at

9523-472: The list (such as King Juan Carlos I of Spain , King Albert II of Belgium and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg ) as well as the speeches given by religious figures (such as Pope John Paul II , and Pope Francis ) and several leaders from countries in the Middle East and North Africa (such as Shimon Peres , Yasser Arafat , Hosni Mubarak , Léopold Sédar Senghor or King Hussein of Jordan ). The full text of

9630-528: The master's degree is obtained after an additional year at the University of Zagreb's Faculty of Economics and Zagreb School of Economics and Management . The four-plus-one-year system also applies to fine arts and music. Medical and related studies replace the bachelor's degree with six-year first professional degrees and graduate Doctor of Medicine ( doktor medicine ) degrees. The old degrees are translated as follows: In May 2008, about 5,000 students protested weak funding, imprecisely defined new rules and

9737-406: The master's degree). Laurea Magistrale (120 ECTS) allows access to third-cycle programmes, and Master universitario (at least 60 ECTS) may be divided into first- (second cycle) and second-level master's degrees (third cycle). A first-level master's degree is accessible by a first-cycle degree and "does not allow access to PhD and to 3rd cycle programmes, since this type of course does not belong to

9844-422: The most far-reaching system of international justice anywhere in the world. One of the council's first acts was to welcome West Germany into its fold on 2 May 1951, setting a pattern of post-war reconciliation that was to become a hallmark of the council, and beginning a long process of "enlargement" which was to see the organisation grow from its original ten founding member states to the 46 nations that make up

9951-404: The officer's degree was divided between bachelor's and master's programmes. Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences , which have offered bachelor's-equivalent engineering programmes, began offering master's-degree programs in 2005. Some Master of Engineering ( insinööri (ylempi AMK) ) programmes are taught in English. Only medicine and dentistry retain their non-standard degree structure, where

10058-483: The participation of national and international experts, they run annual series of seminars and conferences on topics such as European integration, democracy, human rights, the rule of law and globalisation. The first School of Political Studies was created in Moscow in 1992. By 2020, 20 other schools had been set up along the same lines, forming an association; a network covering the whole of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe and

10165-679: The poor results of the Bologna reform. Denmark introduced the 3+2+3 system in 1971 with an education-management working group of the Society of Danish Engineers and a 1984–85 group of the Federation of Danish Industries, both headed by Hans Bruno Lund. Before the adoption of international standards, the lowest degree normally awarded at universities in Denmark was equivalent to a master's degree (Kandidat/cand.mag). Although bachelor's degrees have been obtained after three years of study, most students continue

10272-490: The process. The ESU , EUA , EURASHE , EI, ENQA , UNICE, the Council of Europe and UNESCO are part of the process' follow-up. Other groups at this level are ENIC , NARIC and EURODOC . Four countries, Israel , Kyrgyzstan , and the unrecognized Northern Cyprus and Kosovo , have applied to join but did not meet the membership criteria. Israel is not a party to the European Cultural Convention of

10379-402: The process. Most countries do not fit the framework, using their traditional systems. The process, which will result in bilateral agreements between countries and institutions which recognise each other's degrees, is moving from strict convergence in time spent on qualifications towards a competency-based system which will have an undergraduate and postgraduate division (with a bachelor's degree in

10486-524: The realisation of the aim of the Council as specified in Chapter I"). Since "Europe" is not defined in international law, the definition of "Europe" has been a question that has recurred during the CoE's history. Turkey was admitted in 1950, although it is a transcontinental state that lies mostly in Asia, with a smaller portion in Europe. In 1994, the PACE adopted Recommendation 1247, which said that admission to

10593-404: The role, Spaak resigned in disappointment after the Assembly rejected proposals for a "European political authority". Convinced that the Council of Europe was never going to be in a position to achieve his long-term goal of a unified Europe, he soon tried again in a new and more promising format, based this time on economic integration, becoming one of the founders of the European Union . There

10700-589: The rule of law, welcomed the ongoing co-operation in a variety of fields. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) can participate in the INGOs Conference of the Council of Europe and become observers to inter-governmental committees of experts. The Council of Europe drafted the European Convention on the Recognition of the Legal Personality of International Non-Governmental Organisations in 1986, which sets

10807-594: The signing of the Bologna declaration, the Magna Charta Universitatum was issued at a meeting of university rectors celebrating the 900th anniversary of the University of Bologna (and European universities) in 1988. One year before the declaration, education ministers Claude Allègre (France), Jürgen Rüttgers (Germany), Luigi Berlinguer (Italy) and Baroness Blackstone (UK) signed the Sorbonne declaration in Paris in 1998, committing themselves to "harmonising

10914-456: The speeches is given in both English and French, regardless of the original language used. The archive is searchable by country, by name, and chronologically. Article 1(a) of the Statute states that "The aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity between its members for the purpose of safeguarding and realising the ideals and principles which are their common heritage and facilitating their economic and social progress." Membership

11021-596: The status of EU legislation. Since the Bologna Declaration is not a treaty or convention, there are no legal obligations for the signatory states; participation and cooperation are voluntary. Although the declaration was created without a formal affiliation with EU institutions, the European Commission (which has supported European projects such as the Tuning and TEEP projects) plays an important role in implementing

11128-405: The work of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities as observers. The Statute of the Council of Europe provides for the voluntary suspension, involuntary suspension, and exclusion of members. Article 8 of the Statute provides that any member who has "seriously violated" Article 3 may be suspended from its rights of representation, and that the Committee of Ministers may request that such

11235-478: Was adopted in 1950 following a report by the PACE, and followed on from the United Nations ' Universal Declaration of Human Rights ' (UDHR). The Convention created the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The Court supervises compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights and thus functions as the highest European court. It is to this court that Europeans can bring cases if they believe that

11342-472: Was huge enthusiasm for the Council of Europe in its early years, as its pioneers set about drafting what was to become the European Convention on Human Rights , a charter of individual rights which – it was hoped – no member government could ever again violate. They drew, in part, on the tenets of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , signed only a few months earlier in Paris. But crucially, where

11449-690: Was signed into existence on 5 May 1949 by the Treaty of London , the organisation's founding Statute which set out the three basic values that should guide its work: democracy, human rights and the rule of law. It was signed in London on that day by ten states: Belgium , Denmark , France , Ireland , Italy , Luxembourg , the Netherlands , Norway , Sweden and the United Kingdom , though Turkey and Greece joined three months later. On 10 August 1949, 100 members of

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